Leonard Bernstein was the true Renaissance Man of the 20th century. From the moment of his astonishing conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic on 13 November, 1944 until his death in New York City in 1990, Bernstein was never out of the international limelight. He was the first American-born conductor to achieve such worldwide fame.

Bernstein's first love was composing and he has left a legacy of works in many forms. He wrote three symphonies, several musical comedies, two operas, concertos, chamber music ands songs. Much of his output exists in definitive performances by Bernstein himself on the Universal labels.

As a conductor, he was a tireless champion of the music of Mahler with whom he strongly identified. He was also a forceful advocate of American music of his own time, an exciting opera conductor and to the surprise of many one of the finest interpreters of the symphonies and masses of Haydn, many of which he also recorded.

He was also a great teacher of conducting, having a career-long association with the Tanglewood Music Center where he himself was the first protégé of its founder Serge Koussevitzky.